


Art is an Investment (and so am I)

by FosterTheBananas



Category: Harvest Moon, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town, Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town (Video Game 2020), 牧場物語つながる新天地 | Story of Seasons
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:01:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26114605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FosterTheBananas/pseuds/FosterTheBananas
Summary: Huang is focused on one goal: financial security. While trying to buy some art in the hopes of reselling for a profit, he catches the attention of an eccentric artist who. just. won't. go. away.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 9





	1. Huang's Way to Mineral Town

**Author's Note:**

> There is a cutscene between Huang and Jeff where Huang wants to buy Jeff's paintings.
> 
> As the players we are probably meant to assume Huang is interested in buying the artwork because it's a way to make money. However, since this one of the little glimpses we see of Huang, I thought it would be nice to expand on it. What if there was another reason he was interested in buying the artwork? (but he would also like money too, thanks)

Huang encountered his favorite piece of artwork very young. He was at his aunt’s house, only five, and surrounded by his cousins. His aunt had pulled him close, her perfume reaching out to caress him, and then she sent him off to play. He had only a vague idea that his life had changed, and the chaos of so many voices kept him too occupied to think. They chased each other around the room, collapsed onto threadbare pillows, and then his cousin Changying brought out a box of colors. She carefully passed one sheet of paper to each of them. Huang drew a couple flowers and a dog. In the corner he carefully wrote his name like his mother had taught him.

“Look Huang!,” his cousin Jian called out.

Jian held up his own picture which had many stick figures all gathered in front of a house.

“It’s our family,” he explained with a toothy smile.

They drew and colored until his aunt called them into dinner. Changying set the table, and Jian pulled Huang into a seat next to him. His other cousins filled in the rest of the chairs.His aunt dished out the food, which that night was little more than rice, and little of rice at all.

That night they piled together on the floor; tired, growing, and hungry bodies tangled into one. Huang slept peacefully in spite of it all.

Huang did not think much more of art for a while. He settled into life at his aunt’s house. At twelve, he received a scholarship to a well-rated secondary school. He attended less than a year before switching to a cheaper alternative. Even with the scholarship, the financial strain it placed on his aunt was unconscionable. Instead, he went to school with Jian. They were the closest in age of all the cousins, and spent their afternoons doing favors for the old ladies in the neighborhood. In exchange they would receive pocket change and hard candies. They sucked on the candies as they wandered the neighborhood, scheming of ways to make more money. At night, Huang studied until it became too dark to read.

A few years into secondary school, Jian’s smile and the goodword of the neighborhood grandmothers got them a job cleaning an art gallery. They went at dark when it was empty, and they had the gallery to themselves. Huang thought about art again. He liked looking at the paintings, but he had a particular taste. Paintings of food, like bowls of fruit, just made him shake his head in exasperation. A good bowl of apples outshone the most illustrious painting, afterall.

Huang liked paintings of people. Blank faces in a crowd. Umbrellas. Melting clocks. He liked landscapes that showed him places he’d never been before. He liked tall buildings and houses out in the country. He liked that no matter how long he looked, there was always more.

Jian liked looking at the paintings too.

“Did you know buying art is one of the best investments? It only increases in value. One day I’m going to own a gallery just like this! You can co-own with me, Huang.”

They graduated school and Jian found himself a job at a local shipping company. He worked as a dockman first, loading and unloading goods onto ships, but soon finagled his way into organizing outgoing shipments. Then, he worked his way up to securing new places to ship to.

Huang worked as a store clerk at the local market.He ran the storefront most days, and his customer service was second to none. Years of sweet-talking with the grandmothers of the neighborhood had given him a knack for it. Still, he was unsatisfied with his work. It paid little, and offered no room for advancement. Most of his money he sent back to his aunt. The rest he painstakingly saved, but had little to show for it. He was poring over his budget one afternoon when-

“How good is your Japanese?” Jian asked him.

“It’s decent.”

“I have a job, then, if you’d like.”

Huang waited for his cousin to continue.

“We’re trying to expand into the Japanese market, but want to test the waters first. We need someone to set up shop at one of the local port towns so we can start running numbers.”

“You would recommend me?” Huang asked.

“Of course.”

Huang thought about it. He had little other job opportunities at the moment, and even if Jian’s shipments fell through, he might be able to network his way into a good career in Japan.

“I’ll do it,” he answered.

Huang stepped off the boat into Mineral Town. It looked like a painting he had seen years ago at the gallery. He had lodgings with a local shipper that Jian had made contact with previously.

Zack was kind and offered him dinner. The two crowded around a small table and ate, and yet it still felt empty, like it needed more people. Zack apologized for not having an extra bed, but Huang assured him that his home was more than accommodating.

He slept on the floor; this time there were no cousins around him. He felt very lonely.


	2. Huang's First Month

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Huang spends his first month in Mineral Town making sure Jian's shipments run smoothly when he discovers something worth looking into.

Huang spent his first few days going around to the different businesses in Mineral Town introducing himself. He practiced different ways the conversations might go in advance. He hoped this would close any gaps the language barrier might create. In the end, he needn’t have bothered. Everyone he met was kind, but had little to say to the traveling salesman. Still, he kept his smile plastered on brightly, and by the end of the week he was exhausted. Talking with customers came naturally to him, but doing it in a second language drained him completely.

The second week, Huang spent most of his time at the shop. The farmer visited him, and the General Store keeper’s daughter. Other than that he had no customers. It was very boring during the day.

With the help of Zack, Jian had already arranged with the businesses to switch over to his company for supplies. That week Zack began delivering the shipments. It made no difference to the townspeople, as they still got their goods, and it was still Zack who brought it to them. Each night Huang looked over the numbers. This he enjoyed doing. Numbers were a universal language.

At the end of the first month, Huang used the Inn’s phone to call Jian.

“How do you like Mineral Town?”

“The storefront is seeing very little business, but shipping is going well. The Inn needs a constant supply of goods, as does the General Store, and the hospital.”

“I had wagered as much! I noticed you’ve also been able to arrange outgoing shipments as well?”

“There’s a farm here that has recently started operating again. We’ve taken over the shipping for them.”

“Excellent work, Huang! Looking at the numbers, do you think shipping here is sustainable?”

“Absolutely. Mineral Town is isolated from its neighboring communities, with its main access being its port. I think you would do very well to continue your shipments here.”

“I knew I could count on you. Are you going to come home, then?”

Huang thought about it. He had really only needed to stay to oversee the shipments that Jian had arranged. Now that the shipments had been established, there was no reason for him to stay. But… what was there waiting for him back home? His family, his best friend, but also a life of scraping by to survive.

He sighed and glanced over at Ran who was rushing by with a stack of plates. On the wall behind her was a painting. He paused and set the phone down on the counter. The painting was a landscape and it was well done, but who was the artist?

“Do you like it? It was made right here in town,” Dudley said from behind the bar.

“Very much, yes. If I may ask, who was the one making this?” 

“Our very own resident artist: Jeff! Although I guess he has some competition now with that boy over at Gotz’s. At least he has his store to fall back on! Ha!” 

“This Jeff is the owner of the General Store, yes?”

“That’s the one!” Dudley said.

He had spoken to Jeff’s daughter, Karen, when he was making his first rounds around the town. He had not yet met the store keeper or his wife. Huang deliberated a moment and then picked up the phone again. 

“Huang, are you still there?” Jian asked.

“I’m here.”

“Well, are you coming home?”

“I’m not coming home yet,” Huang answered. “I have an investment to make.” 

Maybe we’ll have our art gallery afterall, Jian; Huang thought as he hung up the phone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has had a lot more background and exposition than I anticipated having to write. And for a story about Brandon and Huang, I sure haven't brought Brandon into this yet.
> 
> But if I had to defend myself, I do feel like some questions needed to be answered:  
> How is Huang able to stay in town when almost no-one goes to his shop?  
> and  
> How did Huang learn about Jeff's paintings?


End file.
